THE recent report by the EPA which showed a doubling
of dioxin levels in the Ringaskiddy samples is hardly good news.

But more disturbing is the attempt by the EPA
and other parties to downplay its significance because levels in other
areas of Cork harbour have fallen, and because it isn’t as high
as Europe allows it to be.

The EPA report said the sample was taken from
a tanker, and that cows were used because they “tend to graze
over relatively large areas,” so it wasn’t as if it was
taken from a single cow grazing on 10 square feet of grass. It was
a valid representation of the area it was taken in. People in and
near Ringaskiddy aren’t one bit impressed, and these people
aren’t quite as lucky as cows.

Cows’ milk is ideal for assessing dioxin
and dioxin-like pollutant levels because these compounds adhere to
fat and, in the case of cows, are transferred to and eliminated in
the milk of the lactating animal.

A bit like women really, except that women only
eliminate their milk when they are breastfeeding, and then the newborn
baby gets the build-up of dioxin since milk was last eliminated.

Men don’t get to eliminate milk at all,
and neither do children, so dioxin and dioxin-like pollutants just
accumulate in their bodies. It’s just laughable that the EPA
can’t figure out why Ringaskiddy stands out as the only region
showing a significant increase. It wouldn’t be anything to do
with the fact that Ringaskiddy is home to Ireland’s largest
industrial estate, with its own bevy of incinerators already. I hope
they can figure out that building Indaver’s incinerator will
add to current dioxin levels. And I hope they can figure out why people
like me know they aren’t protecting our health.